IDENTITIES: TRANSFORMATIONS IN HYBRID CONFLICTS

Abstract

The article aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of identity transformations in hybrid conflicts as one of the systemic challenges of the modern socio-cultural and security environment. It is argued that under the conditions of simultaneous influence of military, informational, psychological, economic and symbolic factors, identity loses its status as a stable characteristic and functions as a dynamic, reflexive and conflict-laden social construct. In the era of hybrid wars, where combat operations are combined with the manipulation of consciousness and massive information influence, identity becomes a strategic field of struggle for meaning and self-preservation, necessitating its systematic scientific understanding, particularly in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The aim of the study is to identify the interrelationships between the processes of identity formation and the dynamics of hybrid conflicts, determining the mechanisms of their influence on individual and collective forms of self-identification. The methodological framework of the study employs an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on the tools of European philosophy, sociology, political theory, and conflict studies. It has been proven that the transformation of identity is the result of the collision of the inner ‘I’ with a fragmented, unstable reality in which established meaning and value orientations are destroyed. An analysis of British, French, German and Italian theoretical models has made it possible to interpret identity as a reflexively constructed, historically and politically conditioned process. It is emphasised that the hybrid crisis, along with its destructive consequences, performs a mobilising and consolidating function, initiating a rethinking of collective and individual identifications, which is particularly evident in the transformation of Ukrainian national identity.